Revisiting the Higher Life writers

In my time off the internet because of computer problems (I'm writing on a borrowed computer and have to limit my time) I've been rereading some of the "higher life" books this blog is mostly about. It's an effort to revive myself spiritually and I'm very happy for the lack of internet distractions.

Reading these wonderful books brings a sad reminder of the low state of spiritual life in myself and in the church at large. Andrew Murray laments it in his day, Samuel Chadwick in his, Watchman Nee in his own indirect way as he carefully delineates the character of the spiritual life, which is enough to make it clear how few really live that life. And it's no better and most likely much worse in our time. It inspires me to pray for all the churches, as we all should be doing, as well as for revival from my own miserable condition.

I remember hearing a couple of fairly well known Reformed radio personalities saying how wrong all this higher life stuff is. There are many versions of this complaint but I'm remembering particularly their saying how in their younger days they'd "tried" to surrender absolutely to God and couldn't do it -- an allusion to Murray's classic book, Absolute Surrender. They'd concluded from their own failure that such all-out surrender is impossible and went over to the Reformed camp in reaction, where apparently holiness is something a Christian just sort of naturally and slowly acquires over a lifetime. No matter that Murray himself testifies that it is indeed possible and in fact a necessity, and reports that others have too, along with all the others who write in this same vein. But the Reformed branch seems to have entrenched itself behind a doctrine of its impossibility and therefore its non-necessity. The fundamentalist churches also seem to lack an appreciation for such writings but I don't know their reasoning on the subject. So great segments of the Church cut themselves off from the life of God that is so sorely needed.

I left the charismatic movement because there was just too much carnality masquerading as spirituality -- and very likely even the working of evil spirits at times -- and too little concern for spiritual discernment of the source of the phenomena they experienced, and went over to a Reformed church that had recently appeared in town because the preaching was systematic and Biblical and included exhortations to holiness that I also found disregarded in the charismatic environment. But every branch of the Church has its strengths and weaknesses. The charismatic churches are also the only place I ever experienced genuine spiritual life -- genuine spiritual fellowship I should say -- despite all the questionable and outright counterfeit spirituality; and the solid doctrine of the Reformed churches which is so comforting after the confusions of the charismatics also comes at the expense of spiritual life as it tends to dominate the whole life of the church. The charismatics err in the direction of experiential chaos to the point of irresponsibility, but the Reformed are truly in danger of snuffing out the Spirit altogether. The complaint of the charismatics that doctrine is not the essence or center of Christian life has validity, but so does the complaint of the Reformed in response that there is no true spirituality without true doctrine.

However, NONE of the denominations of the Church has anything to boast of at the moment as there hasn't been a genuine revival anywhere that I know of in a long long time so spiritually dead are they all. But revivals have occurred in all the denominations at one time or another, and "higher life" teachers have come out of all of them at one time or another. It always takes someone seeing the desperate lack of spiritual life and putting himself/herself out, you could even say actually taking himself to the altar, to the cross, to die for the church -- that's really what it takes -- and then God comes down. Someone who counts the cost and puts self on the altar to pray for God's intervention in the Church with lengthy wrestling prayer for all its members -- better all the elders of a church, as happened in the revival on the Isle of Lewis, or prayer meetings that attract people from all denominations that happened in New York more than a century ago and brought a huge revival. But it hasn't happened that I know of in quite a while -- anywhere in the West at least despite the fact that it's sorely needed. The revival in Saskatchewan in the 70s that Bill McLeod prayed for so avidly is possibly the last.

Reading in the Higher Life library one enounters over and over, as I say at the start of this post, laments about the condition of the churches. It comes from all denominations. I just happened to read this one by G D Watson in his book White Robes about the dismal condition of the Methodists in his time (the early 20th century):

When a church loses heart holiness, it must try ritualism, or machinery, or lyceums, or concerts, or festivals, or 'sacred dramas,' or oyster suppers, or something as a miserable substitute for primitive power. It has ever been that when the visible Church does not raise healthy children for God, she raises lap-dogs for the devil... Hundreds of Churches of Methodism have not enough holiness to produce revivals and clear, happy conversions; and as a substitute for revival and the Holy Ghost, they feel compelled to go at something. They must raise dainty pets, and spend all their strength on a trained choir or nursing a dainty manuscript minister, or working up little giggling, dissipating Church socials, or little Sunday school dramas, or a soul-starving literary lyceum, or a star lecturing course, or an old folk's concert, or some wax doll arrangement to atone for the Church's lack of purity and power.

God will never accept these little Church poodles as substitutes for holiness and Heaven-born children. The little petty idols being stuck up in some Protestant churches are just as abominable to God as the big idols stuck up in Romanism. [pp 85-6]

I've been in churches where there is a lot of this sort of thing, maybe even beautifully done classical Christian music as a performance, but it's still just a performance and the Church itself has no spiritual life. Converts are more like inductees to a social club than born again believers.

But a church doesn't have to go all out in that direction to show its lack of spiritual power. Any dependence on human means is a clue already, drumming up human sympathy for needed financial support being a very common one, instead of relying on God for the support. Is the project even one which He approves? Have they taken the time to find out? If it is, shouldn't He be expected to provide for it? I'm guilty as an individual of this same sort of spiritual failing, not trusting God for provision, not submitting all needs to Him, bowing to His will over my own. I wish I weren't. I know it's a symptom of spiritual weakness and I am making an effort now to overcome -- a big effort. But I do recognize the same symptom everywhere in Christendom, and pray more and more that the Lord will break us all and come down, convict us of our deadness first of all, revive us, empower us, inspire us and lead us. Watson goes on:

You can hear from Methodist pulpits many an innuendo against the old-time sobbing and crying at a mourner's bench, many an apology for modern Church vices, many a cold fling at entire sanctification, yet these men are devoted to the mere Church system, and that passes as a substitute for their personal holiness.

Sad. Whatever one thinks of Methodist theology it has to be recognized that there was a time when that denomination was spiritually alive and it's sad to read Watson's description of what it had become in his day, many of them even embarrassed about their previous spiritual vitality. Today it's even worse than that.

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER ARE PROMISED TO US, but we have to be right with God to receive this promise.

Why is America in the condition it's in?

It's the church's fault. Yes it is. Everything starts with the church. It is all our responsibility. We need to find out what to repent of and confess it and repent of it. On behalf of the whole church. The way Daniel did on behalf of Israel.

Should we confess the sins of churches we don't agree with, the liberal churches, the ones that claim to be Christian but deny the authority of scripture, the ones that have women pastors and gay pastors and accept homosexuality instead of warning that it will lead a person to hell? If Daniel took on the sins of all Israel it seems we should do this for all churches that claim to belong to Jesus Christ. But we have enough to confess and repent of even in the doctrinally good churches.

Why are the churches so weak? Why don't we have the power that the early church had? I'm not even talking about the miraculous powers although I think we should be ashamed that we don't see those either. I'm talking about the power of witness, of conversion, of salvation, the "living water" that Jesus PROMISED would flow from everyone who believes in him. Of course that's miraculous power itself. But you know what I mean.

I've wondered about our powerlessness for years. Of course there are bogus signs and wonders in some churches and that has a discouraging effect, but in general our weakness must be because of sin in various forms. It must be because we don't repent and don't pray enough. It's discouraging. I pray about it, but something is in the way. Here is a sweet sermon by Bill McLeod, one of my all-time favorites, on this very problem, Rivers of Living Water. The list is alphabetical, scroll down. He has another I haven't yet heard I believe is on the same topic, A Tragic Discrepancy . Bill McLeod led a great church revival in Canada in the 70s and he has also spoken on that in great detail, such as in this series at You Tube, very worth listening to. It takes PRAYER, PRAYER and more PRAYER and the prayer leads to repentance and making things right and great conversions follow. This is what we need. Am I the only one who thinks this? I don't have the perseverance either, but shouldn't we be praying for this for each other? It's terrible that the church of the living God is such a fleshly mess.

And we ARE a fleshly mess. Good grief isn't it obvious? Don't we live just like the unbelievers? Aren't fleshly methods used to support church business instead of spiritual methods? I'm thinking now of AUCTIONS to raise money for important projects. This is TERRIBLE. People donate worldly services and items to be auctioned and they all have a great old time bidding and eating and raising money for their important cause. THIS IS A DISGRACE! The church should operate ONLY BY GOD'S METHODS, ONLY BY THE SPIRIT. By prayer, by prayer, by repentance and PRAYER.

Silly entertainments, worldly stupidities. At the very least it dissipates whatever spiritual life the church has. It's a distraction even if it's not exactly a sin. Really it IS a sin that the church has sunk to such a level. It's not just the compromising churches, the seeker-sensitive churches, the self-esteem churches, the Bible-denying churches, it's the GOOD CHURCHES that are failing in these ways.

Preaching that is from the head and not the spirit. Delivered with a proper emotional tone, but it's ACTED, it's a PERFORMANCE, instead of coming from the heart, from the Spirit of God. ONLY THE SPIRIT can touch others with the gospel of God. CAN'T YOU SEE THAT? I'm thinking of LOTS of preaching I hear from many sources.

And there is sin in the churches too, tolerated sin. I know some churches insist that divorce is acceptable in some circumstances, but when I read Jesus on the subject I can't see it. I can't see that deacons or elders could ever have been divorced and remarried. I know many in this situation, including a pastor who was divorced and remarried. I can't say for sure but I worry that this is one basis for weakness in churches. And sin begets sin too. Eventually just the forms and shadows of the faith are kept up week after week, and the flesh is quite capable of pulling off a credible imitation as long as there's nobody around with spiritual discernment. Radical repentance is needed but this requires that the Holy Spirit come and convict people. Start with prayer, prayer, prayer and more prayer.

IF WE'RE THE BODY OF CHRIST WE'RE A HEADLESS BODY TOO MUCH OF THE TIME, a zombie staggering around blind.

Do what one pastor once did -- his name isn't coming to me, but I'll put it in when I remember it -- He BURNED his sermons because although they were doctrinally fine and true and fit to affect his hearers, they were not winning any souls and not changing any lives -- oh now and then and here and there but nothing like what the Bible seems to promise. They were of the flesh and not the spirit. Guess what happened when he burned his sermons? He was nearly bowled over by the Spirit of God almost immediately and God began adding converts to his church. AND HE PREACHED THE SAME KINDS OF SERMONS, only now they were of God and not his own fleshly head tripping. Samuel Chadwick I now think.

We send missionaries out who are quite sincere but also lack the power of the Spirit and don't even know it. They may labor hard for a foreign people and love them and help them in many ways -- BUT THEY LACK THE POWER OF WITNESS, THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE CONVICTING SPIRIT. They don't know what they lack or that they lack anything. They may make a few converts, but converts as weak as themselves. They don't pray enough. They don't fast.

THEY DON'T FAST. Even PASTORS don't fast. They should be fasting and praying FREQUENTLY that God would move in their churches. Bill McLeod started praying early mornings during the week and found that he prayed more and more as time went on and his burden increased for God to move in His church, until he was praying many hours every day. Then he got his people praying in various ways too. It took years but finally God came in great power to his church and many other churches.

Bill McLeod fasted much. I haven't been able to sustain a fast very well for a long time and I feel terrible about it. This is necessary. We need to fast, and we need to fast a LOT if we want to see God's power.

Lord, set a fire under your people. Set a fire under me until I'm right with you and can believe in You to receiving the rivers of living waters.

Well, I've said all this before here. I probably shouldn't say it again until I've succeeded at following my own advice. In fact, make that a prayer. Lord, make it happen. Amen.